He claimed prosecutors fabricated charges. They "conceal(ed) the case from the public," he said. It's "political." It lacks credibility.

Prosecutors claimed defendants were part of a shadowy secularist/neo-nationalist/high-ranking military network. Charges included plotting to oust Prime Minister Erdogan's government. More on that below.

In September 2006, Amnesty International said:

"Unfair trials continue to blight Turkey's human rights record." Its judicial system is tainted. It lacks credibility. Show trials substitute for fair ones.

"One area of concern is criminal proceedings against people charged under anti-terrorism legislation."

Cetin Dogan was chief suspect. He's a retired Turkish general. He and two other retired generals got life in prison.

It was later reduced to 20 years. So-called leniency was because "attempting to overthrown the government by force" failed.

Professor Dani Rodrik, Dogan's son-in-law, called evidence against him fabricated.

He and his daughter, Pinar, said "what lies behind the trials is an apparent effort to discredit the government's opponents on the basis of the flimsiest evidence and often, far worse, by framing them with planted evidence and forged documents."

Turkey's more police state than democracy. Sledgehammer justice was scandalously unfair. It reflected Cold War era show trials. It denied justice.

It lacked legitimacy. It reeked of political interference. It showed Turkey's dark side. Its longstanding history reflects unfairness.

Free expression isn't tolerated. Nor is dissent. No country imprisons more journalists than Turkey. Ragip Zarakolu was ruthlessly harassed for years. He's a human rights activist/publisher/Nobel Peace Prize nominee.

He was convicted of various previous charges. They lacked credibility. They included translating Professor Dora Sakayan's book titled "An Armenian Doctor in Turkey. G. Hatcherian: My Smyrna Ordeal of 1922."

In October 2011, he was imprisoned. In April 2012, he was released. He remains vulnerable. So do others like him. Controlling the message is prioritized. Turkey tolerates no dissent.

Authoritarian rule challenges it. State terror is official policy. Judicial fairness is a figure of speech.

On August 5, The New York Times headlined "Turkish Court Hands Down Prison Sentences in Coup Plot," saying:

"(D)ozens of high-ranking military officers, politicians, journalists and others (got) long prisons terms from "a long-running case that captivated the nation for its audacity, laid bare the deep divisions within Turkish society between Islamists and secularists and earned sharp criticism from the international community over issues of judicial fairness."

"The case was initially seen by many as an important move by Mr. Erdogan's government to engineer democratic reforms by taming the military, which has carried out three coups in modern Turkey’s history."

"Many democracy advocates in the country have grown weary of military interventions in politics, and hailed the trialâ€¦as a major step toward civilian rule."

"But as the case grew and ensnared journalists, academics and prominent government critics, it came to be seen as a politically motivated attempt at silencing dissent."

Prosecutors claimed alleged neo-nationalists comprised a "deep state." They called it modern-day incarnation of an underground group codenamed Ergenekon.

They said they plotted to oust Erdogan, carry out assassinations, and sow chaos. Critics called charges fabricated. At issue is crushing opposition.

Judges are politically influenced. They know the system. Go along or face recriminations. Opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) MP, Umut Oran, called proceedings "Erdogan's trial. It is his theater."

"In the 21st century for a country that wants to become a full member of the European Union, this obvious political trial has no legal basis."

They "murder(ed the) law. The rulings of the specially authorized courts are not legitimate from a legal, political or moral point of view."

"The rulings handed down by these courts are illegitimate. In democracies, individuals are not tried in special courts linked to the political authority but in normal, independent courts which believe in the rule of law."

"These courts don't (administer) justice. Because they are courts under the jurisdiction of the political authority, (they) intend to fulfill their orders. The notion of the rule of law is not valid for these courts."

"It is highly possible that today's court verdicts will prompt further soul searching, especially among opponents that became more politicized after the June protests."

"Some might have plotted a military coup, but there were such evident violations of defense, of the right to a fair trial, that the public will widely consider this a political trial rather than a fair one."